Recovery at work insider - Issue 17

Maintaining your recovery through work skills

Why is this important?

Maintaining training, skills and experience in recovery through work enables you to:

• remain focused on actions aimed at achieving your worker’s recovery goals
• identify any barriers or issues (if they arise) and address them promptly and fairly
• build your capability to manage more complex return to work issues.

The Return to work (RTW) coordinator is the main link between a worker, the workplace and the support team and is key to communicating, planning and influencing recovery in the workplace.

RTW coordinators also play a critical role in influencing the organisation about the importance recovery through work.

From the evidence

RTW is higher in workers who reported a positive experience with their employer. More than half of workers with positive employer experiences returned to work within 30 days compared to 32% of workers who reported a negative experience with their employer.¹

What you can do

• Maintain and refresh your skills in RTW coordination
• Stay up to date with the latest evidence about recovery through work
• Become involved in a RTW coordinator interest group
• Suggest workplace supervisors complete relevant modules in the SIRA RTW coordination eLearning to build capability in RTW
• Understand your workplace and the experience of workers recovering at work to make improvements
• Take time to improve your interpersonal and communication skills
• Communicate the benefits of recovery at work including the positive impact on organisational culture, staff retention, and financial outcomes. Refer to issue 3 for more information.

Tell us what you think

SIRA’s free RTW coordination eLearning helps return to work coordinators and others to develop and refresh skills in recovery through work.  We are reviewing the eLearning to ensure it meets your needs. Please complete this short survey (4 minutes) to help us improve the training and keep it updated.

Resources and tools

• SIRA RTW coordination eLearning
• WorkSafe Qld – Job task analysis and RTW checklist for common roles
• SIRA website RTW coordinators

Next edition

Our August edition will look at how to support your worker if they need time off work.

Missed an issue? Read our most recent issues below:

• Issue 16:The positive impact of using a written recover at work plan
• Issue 15: A tailored, person-centred approach improves outcomes
• Issue 14: Identifying suitable work
• Issue 13:Providing suitable work improves recovery outcomes
• Issue 12: Identifying risk factors for delayed recovery improves outcomes
• Issue 11: Recovery through work, 2021 a year in review

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References

¹Sheehan LR, Gray SW, Lane TJ, Beck D, Collie A. 2018. Employer Support for Injured Australian Workers: Overview and association with RTW. Insurance Work and Health Group. Monash University: Melbourne.